OBC student drags CUG to court
By Yogesh
Avasthi, Ahmedabad Mirror | Aug 9, 2016 http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/ahmedabad/others/OBC-student-drags-CUG-to-court/articleshow/53605756.cms
In yet another
case of discrimination against the backward class, the Central University of
Gujarat has changed rules of admission to its MPhil and PhD courses for the
upcoming academic year, dropping equal weightage to results of written exam and
personal interview. As per new rules, CUG will grant admissions on the basis of
marks scored during the interview sessions that are largely conducted in
English. The sudden change in rules is especially adverse for backward class
students who lack spoken skills and rely on the written test to score marks.
The matter came to light after a 22- year-old applicant, Kalyani Pradhan, submitted a special civil application in the Gujarat High Court on July 29 against the change in rules while the admission process was underway. The HC issued a notice to CUG after a hearing on August 1, demanding answers for the change in rules. While the next hearing has been scheduled for August 10, Kalyani's application has kicked up acontroversy over discrimination.
'RESERVED CATEGORY STUDENTS DEPEND ON WRITTEN FOR MARKS'
"Injustice is meted out to the reserved category students each time, be it in the field of studies or in other areas," said the 22-year-old, who added this was a disadvantage to meritorious students from the weaker sections of the society (including OBC, SC and ST), who score well in the written exam but don't fare well in the personal interview due to lack of spoken English skills. Pradhan, who belongs to the OBC category, filed the application after she faced difficulties in securing admission despite coming in third in her MA English course done from CUG inn 2016.
"I did well in the written examination for admission to the MPhil-PhD integrated course but was not selected due to my poor spoken English skills during the interview," said the 22-year-old, adding, "Around 79 students took the written test for the integrated M Phil- PhD course of which 39 were called for interview. Only eight made it the merit list. There were several candidates from OBC, SC and ST categories but they did not make it to the merit list due to poor spoken English skills."
As per Pradhan, the CUG prospectus for 2016-17 clearly stated the admission selection would be done on basis on both written and oral exam. "But out of the blue, the criteria was changed to consider only the interview and results were declared on July 23," she said. Another OBC applicant Rajesh Kumar corroborated Kalyani's statement adding, "The difficulties and injustice faced by reserved category students have been going on for a long time. On several occasions, faculties give us lesser marks as they feel we will qualify other tests despite lesser marks."
Rajesh also pointed out that as per Supreme Court guideline, "The cutoff for OBC category should be 10 per cent lower than general category's cutoff marks but in this case, the cutoff marks were the same." Citing other discrepancies, Pradhan revealed that during the interview process, some interviewers walked in late and others didn't stay through the entire interview process. "How can they mark a student if they haven't been present for the entire interview? During my PI, I was asked just two questions," she said. In a statement shared with Mirror,
Kalyani said, "In view of above issues and other issues, I have made a representation to the Liaison Officer on Matters Related to OBC, Central University of Gujarat. Similar representations were sent to the Hon'ble President, Hon'ble Prime Minster, Hon'ble HRD Minister, Chairperson of National Commission for Backward Classes, and the Joint Secretary, SC/ST/OBC Division, University Grants Commission."
ADMISSION AS PER RULES: V-C
While the written exam was conducted on June 26, the interviews for shortlisted candidates were scheduled on July 18. The merit list was released on July 23. Reacting to the HC notice and the aspirant's allegations, CUG Vice- Chancellor SA Bari said, "The entire admission process has been conducted as per rules. It is likely students have misinterpreted the matter. The matter is sub judice now so we cannot discuss it further."
I did well in the written examination for admission to the MPhil- PhD integrated course but was not selected due to my poor English during the interview. Admission criteria was changed out of the blue and results declared on July 23
— KALYANI PRADHAN APPLICANT
The matter came to light after a 22- year-old applicant, Kalyani Pradhan, submitted a special civil application in the Gujarat High Court on July 29 against the change in rules while the admission process was underway. The HC issued a notice to CUG after a hearing on August 1, demanding answers for the change in rules. While the next hearing has been scheduled for August 10, Kalyani's application has kicked up acontroversy over discrimination.
'RESERVED CATEGORY STUDENTS DEPEND ON WRITTEN FOR MARKS'
"Injustice is meted out to the reserved category students each time, be it in the field of studies or in other areas," said the 22-year-old, who added this was a disadvantage to meritorious students from the weaker sections of the society (including OBC, SC and ST), who score well in the written exam but don't fare well in the personal interview due to lack of spoken English skills. Pradhan, who belongs to the OBC category, filed the application after she faced difficulties in securing admission despite coming in third in her MA English course done from CUG inn 2016.
"I did well in the written examination for admission to the MPhil-PhD integrated course but was not selected due to my poor spoken English skills during the interview," said the 22-year-old, adding, "Around 79 students took the written test for the integrated M Phil- PhD course of which 39 were called for interview. Only eight made it the merit list. There were several candidates from OBC, SC and ST categories but they did not make it to the merit list due to poor spoken English skills."
As per Pradhan, the CUG prospectus for 2016-17 clearly stated the admission selection would be done on basis on both written and oral exam. "But out of the blue, the criteria was changed to consider only the interview and results were declared on July 23," she said. Another OBC applicant Rajesh Kumar corroborated Kalyani's statement adding, "The difficulties and injustice faced by reserved category students have been going on for a long time. On several occasions, faculties give us lesser marks as they feel we will qualify other tests despite lesser marks."
Rajesh also pointed out that as per Supreme Court guideline, "The cutoff for OBC category should be 10 per cent lower than general category's cutoff marks but in this case, the cutoff marks were the same." Citing other discrepancies, Pradhan revealed that during the interview process, some interviewers walked in late and others didn't stay through the entire interview process. "How can they mark a student if they haven't been present for the entire interview? During my PI, I was asked just two questions," she said. In a statement shared with Mirror,
Kalyani said, "In view of above issues and other issues, I have made a representation to the Liaison Officer on Matters Related to OBC, Central University of Gujarat. Similar representations were sent to the Hon'ble President, Hon'ble Prime Minster, Hon'ble HRD Minister, Chairperson of National Commission for Backward Classes, and the Joint Secretary, SC/ST/OBC Division, University Grants Commission."
ADMISSION AS PER RULES: V-C
While the written exam was conducted on June 26, the interviews for shortlisted candidates were scheduled on July 18. The merit list was released on July 23. Reacting to the HC notice and the aspirant's allegations, CUG Vice- Chancellor SA Bari said, "The entire admission process has been conducted as per rules. It is likely students have misinterpreted the matter. The matter is sub judice now so we cannot discuss it further."
I did well in the written examination for admission to the MPhil- PhD integrated course but was not selected due to my poor English during the interview. Admission criteria was changed out of the blue and results declared on July 23
— KALYANI PRADHAN APPLICANT
